War and Peace — Page 9
"Arrange that affair for me and I shall always be your most devoted slave-slafe with an f, as a village elder of mine writes in his reports. She is rich and of good family and that's all I want."
« Arrangez cette affaire pour moi et je serai toujours votre esclave le plus dévoué — esclave avec un f, comme l'écrit dans ses rapports un de mes anciens de village. Elle est riche et de bonne famille, c'est tout ce qu'il me faut. »
And with the familiarity and easy grace peculiar to him, he raised the maid of honor's hand to his lips, kissed it, and swung it to and fro as he lay back in his armchair, looking in another direction.
Et avec la familiarité et l'aisance gracieuse qui lui étaient propres, il porta la main de la demoiselle d'honneur à ses lèvres, la baisa, et la balança de-ci de-là tandis qu'il se renversait dans son fauteuil, regardant dans une autre direction.
"Attendez," said Anna Pávlovna, reflecting, "I'll speak to Lise, young Bolkónski's wife, this very evening, and perhaps the thing can be arranged.
« Attendez, dit Anna Pavlovna en réfléchissant, je parlerai à Lise, la femme du jeune Bolkonski, ce soir même, et peut-être que la chose pourra s'arranger.
It shall be on your family's behalf that I'll start my apprenticeship as old maid.
C'est au nom de votre famille que je commencerai mon apprentissage de vieille fille.
Vocabulary
- Arrangez
- Arrange or sort out (imperative, formal).
- cette
- This (feminine demonstrative adjective).
- affaire
- Matter, business, or affair to be dealt with.
- pour
- For, in order to (preposition or conjunction).
- moi
- Me, I (emphatic first-person pronoun).
- et
- And (basic coordinating conjunction).
- je
- I (first-person singular subject pronoun).
- serai
- Will be (first-person future of être).
- toujours
- Always, still (common adverb of time).
- votre
- Your (formal or plural possessive adjective).
- esclave
- Slave; person completely devoted to another.
- le
- The (masculine definite article or object pronoun).
- plus
- Most, more (superlative or comparative adverb).
- dévoué
- Devoted, dedicated (adjective describing loyalty).
- avec
- With (common preposition indicating accompaniment).
- un
- A, an, one (masculine indefinite article or numeral).
- comme
- As, like (conjunction or adverb of comparison).
- l'
- The (elided definite article before a vowel sound).
- écrit
- Writes or written (verb écrire, third-person singular).
- dans
- In, inside (preposition indicating location or context).
- ses
- His, her, its (plural possessive adjective).
- rapports
- Reports, accounts, or relations (plural noun).
- de
- Of, from (very common French preposition).
- mes
- My (first-person plural possessive adjective).
- anciens
- Former, old, ancient (masculine plural adjective).
- village
- Village, small rural settlement or community.
- Elle
- She (third-person feminine singular subject pronoun).
- est
- Is (third-person singular present of être).
- riche
- Rich, wealthy (adjective describing financial status).
- bonne
- Good (feminine adjective) or maid, housekeeper.
- famille
- Family, relatives, household group.
- c'
- It, that (elided demonstrative pronoun, short for ce).
- tout
- All, everything, every (adjective or pronoun).
- ce
- This, that, it (demonstrative pronoun or adjective).
- qu'
- That, what (elided relative or conjunction form).
- il
- He, it (third-person masculine singular pronoun).
- me
- Me (first-person singular object pronoun).
- faut
- Need, must; used in il faut (impersonal verb).
- Et
- And (coordinating conjunction beginning a sentence).
- la
- The (feminine definite article or object pronoun).
- familiarité
- Familiarity, informal ease in social manner.
- aisance
- Ease, naturalness, comfortable confidence in manner.
- gracieuse
- Graceful, charming (feminine adjective describing manner).
- qui
- Who, which, that (relative or interrogative pronoun).
- lui
- Him, her, to him/her (indirect object pronoun).
- étaient
- Were (third-person plural imperfect of être).
- propres
- Own, proper, characteristic (plural adjective meaning inherent).
- porta
- Carried, brought (third-person singular passé simple).
- main
- Hand (feminine noun, body part).
- demoiselle
- Young woman, miss, maid of honor.
- d'
- Of, from (elided preposition de before vowel).
- honneur
- Honor, distinction, integrity or maid of honor.
- à
- To, at, in (very common French preposition).
- lèvres
- Lips (feminine plural noun, part of the face).
- baisa
- Kissed (third-person singular passé simple of baiser).
- balança
- Swung, swayed (third-person singular passé simple).
- de-ci
- Here and there (used in phrase de-ci de-là).
- de-là
- There; paired with de-ci meaning here and there.
- tandis
- While, whereas (used in tandis que, conjunction).
- se
- Himself, herself, itself (reflexive pronoun).
- renversait
- Was leaning back, tipping (imperfect of renverser).
- son
- His, her, its (singular possessive adjective).
- fauteuil
- Armchair, comfortable upholstered seat with arms.
- regardant
- Looking at, watching (present participle of regarder).
- une
- A, an, one (feminine indefinite article or numeral).
- autre
- Other, another (adjective or pronoun).
- direction
- Direction, way, management (feminine noun).
- Attendez
- Wait (imperative, formal; second-person plural).
- dit
- Said (third-person singular passé simple of dire).
- en
- In, while, by (preposition or gerund marker).
- réfléchissant
- Thinking, reflecting (present participle of réfléchir).
- parlerai
- Will speak (first-person singular future of parler).
- femme
- Woman, wife (feminine noun, common word).
- du
- Of the, from the (contracted masculine article).
- jeune
- Young (adjective describing age or youthfulness).
- soir
- Evening, night (masculine noun for time of day).
- même
- Same, even, itself (adjective or adverb).
- peut-être
- Perhaps, maybe (common adverb expressing possibility).
- que
- That, than, as (conjunction or relative pronoun).
- chose
- Thing, matter, something (feminine noun).
- pourra
- Will be able to (third-person singular future of pouvoir).
- s'
- Himself, herself (elided reflexive pronoun se).
- arranger
- To arrange, to work out, to be settled.
- C'
- It is, that is (elided ce before est).
- au
- To the, at the (contracted masculine definite article).
- nom
- Name, noun (masculine noun).
- commencerai
- Will begin (first-person singular future of commencer).
- mon
- My (first-person singular masculine possessive adjective).
- apprentissage
- Apprenticeship, learning process, training period.
- vieille
- Old (feminine adjective); old woman.
- fille
- Girl, daughter; vieille fille means old maid.
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